Evening and grading machine



Dec. 6, 1927.

T. DENNE EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet l MarK T. Denna B) M WIM 4770/7/75 Dec. 6, 1927. 1,651,588

M. T. DENNE EVENING AND GRAD ING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1922 '7 SheetS-Sheet 2 E \\\a 3 3 .5 a 3 HI w a 3 mm o 2 mm m a .u L a an mm J w 3 u- HHHQ w HHMNI O Dec. 6, 1927.

M. T. DENNE EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 WVf/VTfii MarK T. Denna ATTOF/VLUG Dec. 6, 1927.

M. T. DENNE EVENING AND GRADI'NG MACHINE Filed Fb. 20, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 //VVf/V70i MonrK T. Denne Dec. 6, 1927.

M. TJ DENNE EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE Filed Feb, 20. 1922 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 5) MWkW Dec 6, 1927. I 1,651,588

M. T. DENNE EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 MGTK T Denne Dec. 5, 1927. 1,651,588

M. T. DENNE EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE Fil ed Feb. 20. 1922 v Sheets-Sheet 7 Fig. 7.

Mam 7a MQT'K T'Denne Qwxz/(W Patented, Dec. 6, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1mm: THOMAS DENNE, or -normou, ENGLAND.

EVENING AND GRADING MACHINE.

Application filed February 20, 1922, Serial N'o. 538,076, and in Great Britain February 22, 1921.

This. invention has reference to improvements in and relating to evening and grading-machines, the main object of my invention being to provide a generally improved 5 constructlon of such machines, to. which end my invention comprehends not only the constructional form of the machine hereafter described, but also certain important elements, including a very sensitive measuring device that is actuated by feelers and which in a measure indicatesthe thickness of the thinnest part-of the edge portion of a piece of material passing through .the machine; improved means whereby said measuring device will determine the position of the rolls that feed the material to the evening or paring knife; improved means whereby the aforesaid roller positioning means will 0perate a marking wheel; means whereby durment to the aforesaid work-feed rolls; and

means, such as a cam control, arranged to determme positively and precisely, inter aha,

the times of setting of the rolls and releasingof the gate, instead of the control of these being dependent upon the position of the work in its progress through the machine. As to the last there is an important exception in that the bringing about of the look ing of the gate to prevent insertion of a fresh piece of material is determined by the work, already in the machine, when moving out of contact with the gate.

In the constructional form of the complete machine to be described. and which forms an important feature of my invention, all the foregoing elements are combined, but I wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited to their use in combination as some of them can be practically applied to othermachines for the purpose aforesaid.

In the specification and claims the gaging means or mechanism comprises a feeler, a floating lever, and connections between them whereby the floating leyer will take up a position correlated to the thinnest part of the stock, the position of the lever-serving as an indicator or gage of the thickness of the thinnest part of the stock. The grading means comprises one of a pair of rollers between which the stock is to be passed and which roller is adjusted from its normal position according to the thickness of the thining the operation of the machine the work Fig. 3 is a side elevation without the table and showing a number of parts in section;

lug. 4 1s a plan view also without the table and showing parts in section so as to expose the gearing;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation;

Fig. 6 is a rear View showing the grading rolls and their gearing, parts being shown in section; v

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the work-feeding chain and its operating mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation thereof partly in section; I

Fig. 9 is a sectional view from left to right on line AA of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 10 is a sectional View on line B--B of Fig. 7.

Referring to said drawings, a suitable frame 8 has a bracket 9 at its front end that carries the stem 10 of a table 11 on which the articlefor example a boot sole blankis placed. The sole will be pressed against the gate, consisting of a pair of pivotally supported levers 12 one on eachside of workfeed wheels 13, 14. The gate is normally held locked by means of a pivotally supported catch 16 that engages a block 15 on the spring 30 to press the work firmly on the serrated wheel.

When the gate has been released by the main cam as described, the upper end of the gate willbe depressed as the work is pushed forward and the latter will enter between and will be gripped and fed forward by the wheels 13, 14.

lower part of the gate. This catch is disen- Rotary motion is imparted to the wheel 14 by a shaft 21 (Fig. 7 through gear wheels 22, 23, 24, 25 and the shaft 27 On each side of the said feed-wheels is a set of three' rollers, each set comprising a horizontal roller 33 and two vertical rolls 40 and 41. These rollers are carried by a horizontally swinging bracket 34.-one on each sidethe two brackets being provided with segmental racks 94 that are in mesh (Fig. 4) so that both brackets will swing in relative opposite directions, means being provided to move the brackets normally to bring their free ends close up to the feed-wheels 13, 14.

The rolls 33 and 41 are carried on bearings supported by horizontally-swinging members 34 whereas the roll 40 is carried by a vertically rocking arm 43 that is free to rock on a pivot 44 which is supported in a bearing upstanding from said member or bracket 34.

The two rolls 33 are to engage against the opposite edges of the sole or the like, and as they are yieldingly pressed thereagainst they, and the rolls 40 and 41, will follow the contour or shape of the sole as this is fed along. The rolls 40 and 41 engage with the up er and the lower faces of the sole at the e ge thereof the former of which will move in the vertical direction accordingly as there are variations in the thickness atthe edge portion of the sole, and this roll constitutes the feeler of the machine and it is held in firm engagement with the work by a spring 46". It will be clear that the two levers being independently carried on opposite sides of the machine, either feeler can move in the vertical direction independently of the other.

The rear ends of the rocking levers 43 are formed or provided with a sort of cup 45 in each of which rests a ball ended rod 46 the upper end of which is formed with a cylindrical part 47 that engages a bearing near one end of a horizontal rocking or floating lever 48 free to swing on a pivot 49vcarried by a pair of cranks 51 which latter can rock on pivots 52- carried by the main frame.

The other end of the rocking lever 48 is provided with a plate or extension 53 forming a sort of pawl that can be'engaged by one or other of teeth or serrations formed on a tumbler 54 that is carried by a cranked shaft pivotall supported at 55, as will be further describe As can be seen, see Fi s. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the pivot 49 of the rocking bar 48 is quite near the end from which the rods 46 depend, so that any slight movement of said bar at that .end, brought about by either of the rods 46 being lifted (which will happen when its relative feeler descends as it passes over a thin part on the sole edge) will be much increased or augmented at the end of the plate or pawl 53 (the proportions being, more or less, as 1 to 10) so that a very fine or delicate adjustment of the parts-hereinafter describedthat are controlled by the particular position from time to time of the plate 53, will be obtained.

A spring 50 for each rod, of much less tension than the spring 46*, tends to maintain the lower end of the rod 46 in the bottom of the cup 45 and thus serves to ensure that the rod 46 will follow the downward movement of the rear or cup end of the rocking arm 43 when the feeler is riding over a thick part provided that the rocking lever 48 is at the time free to move in that direction. The spring 50 also serves to brin about a substantial balancing of the rocking lever 48 on its pivot 49 so that it will respond to the slightest movement upwards of the cup 45.

The normal or initial distance apart of the feelers, 40 and the rolls 41, is less than the thinnest work that is to be acted on, so that there is bound to be a movement of separation between them-by the feelers being raised-when the work has been inserted and is being fed along by the feed-wheels. This necessarily involves a movement of the rocking lever 48 in the direction to raise the plate or pawl 53 when the work is thus inserted.

As is well understood, no really useful purpose would be served if the plate 53 were merely to move up and down according to variations in the thickness of the work. The object is to register or record the thinnest part of the work acted on by the feelers. I therefore provide very simple means for effecting this from the moment the work is entered between the feed rolls until it leaves them.

For this purpose I provide the rocking arm 48 with a toothed ratchet 61 (Figs. 2 and 4) which in Figs. 1 and 3 is behind and of similar shape to the ratchet 64 (Figs. 1 and 3) to be referred to. Adapted to engage with the ratchet 61 is a pawl 62, the ratchet and pawl being such that they will permit the lever 48 to swing with its plate 53 moving in the downward direction but will prevent movement in the opposite direction. The said pawl is thrown out of engagement with its ratchet (fl-when all the mechanisms of the machine are returned to their normal positions-by a cam swell 76 acting on the roll 74 at the end of a bell crank 73 that carries said pawl and which bell crank is mounted on a shaft 78.

Thus far it will be seen that as the sole passes between the feed rolls 13, 14, the two feelers 40 will move up and down according to variations in the thickness of the work at the edge. The cup end of the rocking levers will also be moving up and down (in the opposite direction to the movement of the feelers) but they will only bring about movement of the rocking lever 48 when one or l l U other or both the feelers move downward,

- i. e., when they encounter a thin part of the until, when the complete sole or the like has passed between the feed wheels 13, 14, the position of the plate 53 will, in a measure, be indicative of the thinnest part of the sole with which one or both the feelers have contacted.

It will be observed that the lower ends of the rods 46 are entered into pockets 45. By this arrangement the upward movement of the pockets (as described) may lift one or other of the rods 46 but should the pockets or either of them move downwards (which will happen when the relative feeler is passing over a comparatively thick part of the work) the rod 46 will not'be affected there by but will merely be left suspended. a

As already stated, the normal or initial distance apart of the rolls 41 and the feelers 40 is less than the thinnest work that is to be acted on by the feelers.- ,It follows, there fore, than when the work has travelled completely past the feelers, these latter would drop to their initial position and in conse quence the plate 53 also would drop to its initial or lowermost position (which, obvious- 1y, would be undesirable) unless means to prevent this are provided. It is for this purpose that the lever 48 is provided with the ratchet 64 with which a pawl 63 is to be engaged. The form of the teeth of the ratchet and of the pawl are such that the pawl when engaged with-the rack 64 will prevent downward movement of the plate 53. This engagement is brought about automatically when the gate is releasedimm'ediately the work leaves it. For this purpose the lower end of the gate 12 is connected by a rod 173 with a bell crank (the rod being capable of movement towards theleft, Fig. 3, when the work depresses the top end of the gate, without affecting the position of the bell crank, by reason of a simple lost motion device consisting of a nut placed on the end of the rod at some little distance from the bell crank, as shown) and a spring is which-at'its upper end is connected to another bell crank 79 that carries the pawl 63.

The horizontal lever 48with its pawl plate 53is thus brought into and held fast in the position wherein it indicates, in a measure, the thickness of the thinnest part of the work with which the feelers have been in contact and I provide means whereby the said position of the pawl plate will determine the position of a grading roll 58 relative to the paring or splitting knife 89 so that the work shall be pared or shaved down to the thickness equal to the said thinnest part.

After having passed the feelers, the work is fed along towards the skiving knife by means of an endless chain belt 102 and from this it is entered between the rollers 58, 59, and by these presented against the splitting knife'in the known manner. The upper or grading roller 58 is to be adjusted accord ing to the thickness the finished sole or the like is to have and the lower roll is carried by a sliding bearing 60 (Fig. 6) which is acted on by springs 65, 66 so that the roll which is serrated-will firmly press-the work against the grading roll 58.

Inasmuch as the initial thickness of the roll 58 is higher or lower withrespect to the fixed knife edge.

In order to allow the rolls 58, 59, to accommodate themselves to these variations of position, I provide simple means for driving them from shafts having 'fiXed bearings. The lower roll is driven by the shaft 67 (to which rotary motion is imparted as will be described) and the upper roll 58 by the shaft 68, the two shafts being geared together as shown so that they rotate in relative opposite directions. Bet-ween the shafts and the rolls 58, 59, are dog clutches 69 which, as is well known, will allow of relative movement between the rolls and their shafts. This is, in my opinion, a much more satisfactory means than employing toothed Wheels having abnormally long teeth such as have heretofore been employed for this purpose.

The slide bearing 92 that carries the upper roll 58 is pressed upwards by springs 91, the springs acting between a part of the frame and lugs projecting from the bearings. The upper faces of said slide bearing have bearings in which the cranked'shaft 90 is re; ceived so that, when the springs 91 are free to act, they will raise the slide 92 and this in turn will rotate the shaft 90 in its bearings 55 and thereby the serrated or toothed block 54 will be swung to'engage against the pawl plate 53 ofthe horizontal lever 48'. By

this means the position of the roll 58, relative'the knife 89, will be made to correspond with. the thinnest part of the sole or the like withwvhich the feelers 41 or either of them has contacted. r I

As the. pressure of the block against the pawl plate and through this on the rocking lever is fairly considerable, I mount the pivot 49 (Fig. 3) on crank arms 51 (as al ready described) so that the said parts are capable of slight endwise movement, and I provide the end of the rocking lever 48 with a segmental block that will at that time'bear against a similarly shaped abutment 194 which latter, and not the pivot 49, will take up the end pressure.

In order to hold the block 54 clear of the pawl plate 53 at the time the sole is passing between the rolls 41 and feelers 40, one end of the cranked shaft 90, 55, is provided with a lever arm 154 the end of which is pressed upwards (so as to rotate the crank shaftsufliciently to take the block 54 out of engagement with the pawl plate 53) by a rod 150 the lower end of which has a cam roll 151 that rests on the edge cam 152 of the main cam 19, the edge cam being of a form so that the rod 150 is removed from under the lever arm 154 in order that the engagement of the block 54 with the pawl 53 may take place so soon as the measuring of the work, as described, is completed.

As the marking device, whereby the sole or the like is to be stamped or impressed with a figure or symbol to indicate its grade,

should also be operated as soon as the work has been measured as aforesaid, I provide means that are actuated simultaneously with the actuation, as described, of the block 54.

To this end I provide a stamping wheel 125, having on its periphery the usual symbols'or figures, which is rotatably supported by a frame or plate 133, that is slidable in ways 134, and a pinion 126 on the spindle of which wheel meshes with a toothed quadrant 127 pivotally carried at 132 by the frame. The arm of the quadrant 127 is con-. nected by a link 131 to a crank arm 130 fixed to the shaft so that as the lattershaft is rocked it will impart movement simultaneously to the block54 and the stamping wheel 125 to an extent dependent upon the position ofthe pawl plate 53. v 1

As already stated, the work, after leaving the feed rolls 13, 14, and the rolls 41 and feelers 40, is carried forward by an endless chain 102.

In accordance with my invention the chain is stopped during the time the stamping or marking of the work is effected, and for this purpose I provide the following means: I v s The chain 102 is carried and driven by sprockets 103, 104, (Figs. 7 to 10) the spindles 105, 106, of which are carried in suitable bearings.

For driving and stopping the chain I provide on the shaft 21 two clutch members 107, 108, the former of which is coupled so as to rotate constantly with butto be slid able with respect to the gear wheel 22 on said shaft 21. The other clutch member 108- is fixed to a sleeve extension of a gear wheel 109 that meshes with a gear wheel 110 on the spindle 106. It will be obvious that when the clutch members are disengaged (as shown in Fig. 7) the conveyor chain 102 will be stationary and that it will be driven when said clutch members are engaged.

To bring about the engagement and disengagement at the proper times of the clutch members 107, 108, 1 provide a cam comprising two members 111, 112, of which the former is a face cam and the latter a rin or collar cam which fits around and is a justable with respect to the face cam. To effect this the collar cam 112 has a number of holes to receive a tommy and it has'a number of serrations on its inner face with one or other of which a spring-pressed tooth 114 engages, the arrangement being such that when the collar 112 is rotated the tooth 114 will be made to ride over the teeth or serrations 115 and will thereafter maintain the collar in its adjusted position. The collar 112 may be provided with a stop pin 112 that enters a slot 111 in the periphery of the face cam to limit the extent of movement of the collar inor around the disc cam 111. The cam 111 is fixed to the shaft 21 and therefore is constantly rotated.

Slidable in a suitable bearing is a rod 117 one end of which is provided with a fork or the like to engage the clutch member 107 and the other end of which has a cam roll, a spring 120 acting so as to maintain the cam roll against the cam members 111, 112.

As will be seen, the cam surfaces, i. e., those-parts of the members 111, 112, which are thicker than the other parts, will serve to disengage the-clutch member 107 from 108. and thereby stop the conveyor chain, whereas when the thin parts of the cam members 111, 112, permit the spring to move the spindle towards the cam members, the clutch member 107 will be brought into engagement with the clutch member 108 and thereupon the conveyor chain will be driven.

A sin le clutch member such as 111 would sulfice'i the chain has to be stopped at the same pg sition relative to a fixed oint on, saygthe rotating shaft 21. But as 1t is prefera rial ing o erated on at different parts accor 'ng to t eir size or length, the additional and adjustable cam member 112 is provided as by this the effective'length of the projecting cam surface (i. e. the thicker part heretofore referred to) can be regulated and thus the period during each revolution of the shaft 21that motion is imparted to the conveyor belt can be varied.

III)

le to mark soles or pieces of the mate- When the conveyor belt is stationary the stamping is effected and for thispurpose I prov1de a vertical rod 135 that is connected at its upper end to the slide plate 133 and which is carried by a crank that is mounted on a shaft 138. Also mounted on said shaft is another crank 140 which is provided with a cam roll 141 that is held in engagement with a cam surface on the main cam l9'the swell 142, 143, serving to depress the rod and the plate 133 at the appropriate time to stamp the work and thereafter to permit a spring or springs 136 to raise the parts to their original or normal positions. A sprin 146 and collar 187 on the rod 135, the collar pressing against an abutment or stop, serves to take up the shock when the work is being stamped.

The parts are driven from a main shaft 80 a pinion 81 on which imparts rotary motion to a toothed Wheel 82 on the shaft 67 whereby the rollers 58, 59, are driven. The shaft 67 has also mounted on it a pinion 83 and gear wheel 84, the former of which is in gear with a toothed wheel 85 on the sleeve 86 that carries the main cam 19, so as to drive this and the latter (84) gears with a toothed wheel 87 on the end of-.-the shaft 21 whereby the conveyor chain and the feed wheel 12 are driven.

The rods 46 and the vertical spindles on which the brackets. 34 can swing are arranged co-axial so that there will be no side strains set up during any such relative movement.

What I claim is: c 1. A machine of the kind described, comprising a feeler mechanism, a floating lever and means for operating said lever by the movement of the feeler in one direction, said means permitting the feeler to ,move in the other direction without operating the floating lever.

2. A machine of the kind described, comprising a feeler mechanism, a floatin lever and means for operating said lever y the movement of the feeler in one direction, said means permitting the feeler to move in the a other direction without operating the floating lever, and means to engage said lever and retain it in position after operation.

' 3. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a feeler mechanism, agate, a floating lever, means for operating said lever by the movement of the feeler in one direction while permitting the feeler to move in the other direction without operating the lever, means to engage said lever after operation and means controlled by the gate to actuate the engaging means.

" 4. Ina machine of the kind described, the combination with feeler mechanism, a gate, a floating lever, -means for operating the floating lever by the movement ofthe feeler in one direction, said means permitting the feeler to move. in the opposite direction without operating the lever, means to engage said floating lever after operation, means controlled by the gate to actuate the engaging means, anadjustable grading roll, and

.means whereby the position of the grading g to move in the opposite direction without operating the floating lever, a chain conveyer, a marking device, and means to operate the marking device accordingto the position of the floating lever.

6. A machine of the kind described, comprising feeler mechanism, a gate, a floating lever, means to operate the lever by the feeler mechanism when the latter moves in one direction while permitting said feeler mechanism to move in the opposite direction without actuating the lever, a chain conveyer, and means to stop the convey'er at a predetermined point of its travel.

7. A machine of the kind described, comprising feeler mechanism, a gate, a floating lever, means connecting the feeler with the floating lever by which the latter is a chain conveyer, means to actuate said conveyer, and means to bring about the stopping of the conveyer at a predetermined position.

8. A machine of the kind described, comprising a feeler mechanism, a pair of work feed rolls, a floating lever operated by the feeler mechanism, a gate, and cam-actuating mechanism to determine positively the time of setting of said rolls and releasing the ate. g 9. A machine of the kind described, comprising a feeler mechanism having sets of rolls to engage the leather at opposite sides, independent levers to carry said rolls, a floating lever operated by said levers, and an evening device controlled as to its position by said floating lever.

10. In a machine of the kind described, grading mechanism, feeler mechanism, a floating lever, means to actuate said lever according to the thinnest part of the edge portionof the stock, and means actuated 1ndependeiitly of said lever to determine the position of the grading mechanism. 11. In a machine of the. kind described, grading mechanism, feeler mechanism, a floating lever actuated by the feeler mechanism, means to retain said lever according to the thinnestpart of the edge portion of the stock, and means actuated independently of said floating lever to determine the position of the grading mechanism.

12. In a machine of the type described, grading mechanism, feeler mechanism, 8.

inc

floating lever, a movable support for said lever and a pressure resisting lock to limit the movement in one direction of said lever. 13. In a machine of the kind described, grading mechanism, feeler mechanism, a floating lever linked'tothe feeler mechanism, toothed racks on said lever, pawls to engage said racks, a pivoted tumbler, automatic means to move! the tumbler to engage it against said lever, and connections between the tumbler and the grading mechanism.

14. In a machine of the kind described, grading mechanism, feeler mechanism, a floating lever actuated by the feeler mechanism, a marking device, means to operate the grading mechamsm and the marking device, a work feeding means and means to throw out of operation the work feeding means during the time the marking of the work is effected.

15. In a machine of the kind described, means to. feed forward the work, a feeler mechanism, means to mark the work according to the thinnest part of the edge portion of the work, and means to retain the work stationary-at the time the marking is effected.

16. In a machine of the kind described, means to engage and feed forward the work,

a fecler mechanism, a floating lever actuated by the feeler mechanism, a grading mechanism, means to actuate the grading mechanism, a gate normally to prevent insertion of work into the work engaging and feeding means, and automatically operating means to free the gate at a predetermined point in the cycle of operation of the machine.

17. In a machine of the kind described, means to engage and feed forward the stock, a gate that is operated by the stock when being inserted into the work feeding means. feeler mechanism, a floating lever actuated by the feeler mechanism and means actuated by the gate to lock said lever.

18. In a machine of the kind described, work feed rolls to engage and feed the work, a pivotally supported gate, a block on said gate, a catch normally engaging said block and a cam to disengage the catch from the block at a predetermined point in the cycle of operation of the machine.

19. In a machine of the kind described. a feeler mechanism and a substantially horizontal floating lever actuated by the feeler mechanism and having its fulcrum very near one end thereof and aspring to bring about the balance of the lever on its fulcrum.

-MARK THOMAS DENNE. 

